Recently, due to the development of wireless communication technology, AllShare™-based data transmission between smart devices has increased. For example, Bluetooth™ and/or Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi)-based data transmission/reception between a smart Television (TV) and a terminal has increased. For this purpose, a dedicated antenna is mounted on the terminal and on the TV.
A data reception rate is proportional to a height of an antenna mounted on a TV. In other words, the data reception rate increases as the height of the antenna mounted on the TV increases. Since a TV antenna is typically mounted on a rear of a TV, the TV may be thicker as the height of the antenna increases. However, due to the characteristics of TVs which are getting slimmer, there is a limit to increasing the height of the antenna for the improvement of the data reception rate. Therefore, there is a need for a way to increase the data reception rate regardless of the height of the antenna.
The existing patch antenna can be mounted on a TV because of the antenna's flat shape. Typically, an antenna is mounted on the rear of a TV, and if the patch antenna is mounted on the rear of the TV, most signals radiated from the patch antenna may exist only in the rear of the TV because the patch antenna radiates signals vertically. Therefore, a receiving device situated in front of the TV may not correctly receive the signals transmitted from the TV.
To address these and other problems, a flat-type antenna capable of horizontal radiation needs to be mounted on the TV. A Zeroth-Order Resonator (ZOR) antenna is a typical example of the flat-type antenna. The ZOR antenna is free from the antenna's physical size, and can radiate signals in parallel to the antenna's metal pattern. The ZOR antenna may be implemented by deriving the characteristics of a Left-Handed Material (LHM) having negative permittivity and negative permeability, which do not exist naturally, by modifying the antenna structure, due to the physical constraints of the direction in which radio waves travel in a Right-Handed Material (RHM).
The ZOR antenna may be constructed in, for example, the following three forms. In a first form of the ZOR antenna, a via for connecting a radiator metal pattern printed on the top face of a two-layer substrate to a ground metal pattern on the bottom face thereof is disposed to derive a parallel inductance value of an operating frequency. However, in this structure, a predetermined number of radiator metal patterns existing on a top face of the two-layer substrate need to be arranged in order to make it possible to derive a serial capacitance value and a parallel inductance value, thus, a wider horizontal antenna space is needed. In addition, this structure uses the via for connecting a top plate of the antenna to a bottom plate thereof, causing an increase in a total volume or a form factor. Therefore, with use of the ZOR antenna in the first form, it is hard to design a slim TV.
A second form of the ZOR antenna corresponds to an antenna structure in a Three-Dimensional (3D) form, which has a plurality of faces so that the antenna may operate in multiple bands. In this structure, bandwidth characteristics, which are a drawback of the ZOR antenna, may be improved, contributing to improving antenna performance compared with that of the ZOR antenna in the first form. However, the ZOR antenna in the second form may be hardly mounted on a small wireless device, a TV or the like, since the antenna is not implemented in a normal structure, but in a 3D structure that uses faces of a rectangular parallelepiped, causing limits of a manufacturing process due to the 3D structure.
A third form of the ZOR antenna corresponds to a planar structure in which a ground existing on a bottom face of the ZOR antenna in the first form is disposed on the top face thereof. The ground on the bottom face is disposed on the left and right of the radiator metal pattern, and three independent grounds may exist. The third form may significantly reduce a volume because it implements the antenna in the planar form, unlike the first form and the second form of the ZOR antenna. Therefore, the ZOR antenna in the third form is advantageous in that the antenna can be mounted on small products. However, the third form may have the following problems.
The third form needs a wide horizontal antenna space since the ground situated on the bottom face is disposed on the top face to implement the antenna in the planar form. In addition, the antenna based on the third form may enable slim products due to a thin-film antenna when the thin film antenna is mounted on the products, but the thin film antenna's performance may be distorted or its efficiency may be reduced due to the influence of the metal as the antenna is in close proximity to the products.
Therefore, there is a need for a new antenna that is designed taking into account a cost, mounting, a utility, performance degradation and the like.
The above information is presented as background information only to assist with an understanding of the present disclosure. No determination has been made, and no assertion is made, as to whether any of the above might be applicable as prior art with regard to the present disclosure.
The above information is presented as background information only to assist with an understanding of the present disclosure. No determination has been made, and no assertion is made, as to whether any of the above might be applicable as prior art with regard to the present disclosure.